Advantages

Disadvantages

great family spelling game

Boggle is a fantastic game which is fun for all the family. I have a few different versions of the game and when I was younger I always took it to my nans house and we would play it for hours.

The original boggle includes 16 letter cubes, the base and lid and a sand timer.

The cubes are the same size as a regular dice and are white with black letters on. This makes the letters easy to read. There are different letter combinations on each cube so that as many words can be made as possible.

The base is an orange square with square spaces for the dices to fit in. The lid is clear and fits well on top of the base so it is easy to see if all the cubes are in place before taking the lid off. The cubes fit in the spaces well and are not tight so it is quick and easy to do. As the letters are placed randomly it does leave some letters facing the wrong direction. This doesn't really effect the game but you could turn them around if you wished.

The sand timer is made from a strong plastic, like the rest of the game, and lasts for one minute.

I have never broken or lost any pieces of the game as it is made to a high quality and fits back into the box after use.

The idea of the game is to find as many words as possible that others playing don't have.

To start the cubes must be shook in the lid and base and then shuffled around until all cubes are in a place in the base. When the lid is taken off and the timer is turned over the game begins. Players must find as many words as possible from linked cube faces. The bigger the word the more points you get. The words must be written down on a piece of paper each (pens and paper not included) and when the timer stops pens are put down.

One at a time the players each read out the words they have and if any other player has that word it is crossed off and worth no points. The words remaining are given points (1 for 3 letters, 2 for 4 letters, 3 for 5 letters etc.) and the person with the most points wins the round.

This can be repeated however many times. We usually play until we are fed up or have something else to do.

I recommend this game highly for any age. It is great fun to play and lasts a long time.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

good in short bursts

What can I say. Boggle is ridiculous. It's a fast paced wordgame aimed at the quantity of your words and not the quality.

The game is played by shaking a plastic container containing Dice with letters on the sides. Once someone has shaken the counter, you then flip the sand timer and it begins. What begins you say? Why, Boggle of course!

during the 3-minute game ( yes 3 minutes) you must try and write as many words as you can see in the container. Words can only be formed so long as each word is adjacent to one another. Words gain a certain number of points depending on their length, although you'll find that the majority of the time you will be finding 4 letter words and pluralized versions of other words already on your list.

The game is fairly easy to find in charity shops, and I bring this down to its replay value. After a few games a night, the game will tire. Its fast paced nature lends itself to fatigue and you will often find yourself looking for a slower game where there isn't such a competitive edge. As a time-filler however, this is highly ranked. At 3 minutes a game, there's no reason not to do a 'best 2 out of 3' game.

Whilst not the most thought provoking game (there's really no TIME to think) it can prove as a very effective ice-breaker and time filler.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A Clever Word Game

Time for another classic game review. This time it's the turn of Boggle. This is a game that has been around for many years and is viewed as very popular still. Although not strictly a board game you do use a form of board when you play this and the game is based on word play. So now you know the basic concept, let me tell you a little bit about how the game actually works.

In reality there is no real limit to the amount of players who can take part in Boggle. It's get a little awkward if there are more than four of you, but you can squeeze round and play regardless. The game starts when all players have a pen and a piece of paper for writing words down. The little Boggle cube is then shaken and the sixteen dice inside settle down with a letter facing upwards, now the egg timer is turned over and the round begins.

The idea is to try and make as many words as you can from the letters in front of you. You must connect the letters together either vertically, horizontally or diagonally to form words and you can not use the same letter more than once in a word. When the timer runs out you must stop writing your words down. Now comes the scoring to see who did best.

You might think that the scoring is based on most words, but this is not true. You only get points for unique words. So the first player will read out their list of words and if any other player has the same word then this does not count and will not score points. You only score points for unique words. If you do have a unique word when everyone has read their list of words out, then you score points. The longer the word the more points you get. You can then play as many rounds of Boggle as you like and add your scores up after each round. Obviously the player with the most points at the end is the winner.

This is a game that requires a little bit of brain power to play. Boggle is aimed more at adults than children although it can be a good way of teaching children to spell and help them develop in their language skills. The game usually costs around £20 to buy brand new in the shops but there are lots of these knocking around online or you can often pick the game up in a charity shop for just a few pounds.

Although I'm not the best Boggle player around I do quite enjoy it. It causes some great discussions and arguments over words and can really get players involved in the game. There is always a great feeling when you come up with a really special word that no one else has though of as well. So overall Boggle really is a very good little game that has been played for many years and no doubt will be played for many more years in the future.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A great game for both kids and adults

My oldest child is only five, so we are still slightly pre the age when child begin to be able to play board games. There are a number board games I had when I was a child which I have kept, including Boggle, which was one of my favourites.

Boggle is a great word game, good for helping kids spell and recognise words within letter mixes, but at the same time I played this game when we have had friends around for dinner, and it always go down well, even if the guys do start to get super competitive!

The Boggle set comes with a plastic box, the bottom part is where the letters sit and a lid. The letters are printed on sixteen cubes which sit in ridges in the base on the plastic box. You need the lid so you can shake the letter cubes up between each game. Nowadays I believe Boggle comes with an electric timer and each game is three minutes in length, although because I got my Boggle last century mine came with a three minute egg timer!

There is one letter on each side of each cube, with the exception of 'q' which comes paired as 'qu' otherwise it wouldn't be much use. The object of the game is to get as many words from the letter scramble as you can in three minutes. The longer the word the more points it is worth. To be a valid word the cubes must be adjacent to each other, either vertically or horizontally and the same letter cannot be used twice.

Obviously the one with the most points wins at the end of the game. The nice thing about Boggle is you can make the game as long/short as you like. It could just be one 3 minute round, or 10 rounds, you just keep going until you have had enough!

Boggle costs around £15, which I think is a good price for such a good game. It is recommend for kids 8+ which would be about right and it's a really excellent game for getting kids spelling.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Great fun worth buying as a game to keep for ever.

Boggle

Like word games? Yes? Well, then this is a must have. It's up there almost on the level of Scrabble.Boggle is a fast thinking and fun game. It's a good educational tool for improving the English vocabulary. No foreign words or abbreviations allowed. Play from ages eight to any age upwards and each game only lasts three minutes.

Game Play:

There are sixteen lettered die in a plastic tray with a lid that looks rather like a dome shaped cake cover. Give it a good shake. Hear the letters rattle. Some people can go shaking on a bit too long with the build-up the beginning of the game. Usually, someone has to intervene before we are all deafened, with the shout, 'That's enough now.'

The aim is to produce a list of as many words as possible under the time limitation of three minutes. All letters in the word must be adjoining. Unlike, in scrabble straight horizontal lines and verticals do not have to be adhered to so long as the tips of the die are beside the required letter.

I'm always glad for the three minute egg timer being turned over and bringing the quiet. All that can be heard is the scribbling of the writing tools as lists of words are made on the paper and some sighs when things get tough.

We often play again and again. Each game provides different letter combinations. It's not boredom that stops play but things like bedtime. Even the sounds of the tiles rattling in the box speak of the excitement to come. It's shaken in much the same way as a drum roll leads to the main part of an event.

Minor problems:

The noise can get a bit much depending on the enthusiasm of the assigned Boggle shaker. This job is taken in turns before each new game to prevent arguments.

After shaking and placing on the board not all the die settle squarely into their assigned slots. This means turning them so they are set correctly. This part can make people cheat as they can turn the dice to the letter that seems to suit the board best to create more words.

The covering lid is clear plastic. All the letters are visible. Even if you use your hand to cover the letters from sight some will still be visible. I turn my head away but it can be guaranteed that people will angle their heads to view and peep at what's in there to get a head start! We lift the lid off to avoid light glaring on the game and obstructing views.

Like under exam conditions there will always be players trying to scribble extra words after the time has run out.

There are also cheats who try to steal words from under your nose. I find myself resembling the child me, back in primary school days, hiding my work with a cupped arm and a bowed head!

My timer kept getting stuck so I had to go back out to buy a new egg timer.

Winner:

Next the lists are read out and everyone calls out, 'yes' or 'no' to the words read out. No duplications of words are allowed. Cross out shared words from the list. The words left undiscovered by the other players are the words that win points. The winner is the person with the most words.

Bonus:

Alone - play by yourself and improve your vocabulary.

Also improves spelling and all whilst having fun.

Great entertainment.

Like Scrabble this is a must have game.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Fun for the whole family.

Boggle is one of those games that I was bought up on, played throughout my teens and early adulthood, and now it's something I play with my older children and also with my partner and friends. It is one of those games that truly does transcend generations and it's strangely addictive. I prefer playing this to most other word games such as Scrabble and Lexicon - and that's not to talk those games down, it's more a matter of I really like this one. I have owned several Boggle sets over the years, but the current one is one that I bought from my local independent toy store for £7.99, but it is a game that you can pick up easily enough from places like Amazon.

This is a word game - and the rules are very easy to learn. The game is made up of a series of 16 dice, with each face of the dice having a letter on. These dice sit in a grid that is 4 x 4 and then on top of this grid there is a plastic lid, which enables you to shake the dice altogether and then get them to settle randomly in the grid squares. The idea then is to look at the letters and make as many words (of 3 or more letters) as you can ensuring that the letters are adjacent to each other (horizontally, vertically or diagonally). For example, in the following grid: A S J DP N A RT O O KL A E C

So: you could have:SNAKEROCKROOTPANS

But you couldn't have: CODEDALESOOT

There is a egg-timer which last three minutes that comes with the game and so this allows you to time it. Once the 3 minutes is up, player one reads her words out and if anyone has the same words then you cross them off. This goes on until all players have read their words off - and then the words that are left (that no one else has) are the words that are scored. You get scored according to how many letters are in your word - and the more letters, the higher the score. You usually decide how many games you're going to play in a row - and the winner is the one with the highest score.

I find this is a fun game and we get really really competitive with it. We have even had a Boggle League (sad I know!!). It's also a really good way to learn new words, and also for kids to be challenged on spelling words. Any fake words or mis-spelt words (courtesy of Mr. Dictionary) are discounted. It's easy to understand and I would say that kids from about 10 years old can play it fairly easily. Also it's a game you can play with up to about 8 people - but I prefer it if it's around 4 people. I recommend this to anyone who likes word games and hasn't tried this one!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A great little game!

Boggle is a 'word' game where you have to find as many words as possible whilst racing against the clock.I received this game one Christmas when I was around seven years old; it instantly became my favourite ever game then and I would still consider it to be one of my favourite every games even now.

~ * To Play * ~

First of all using the 'pallet' and the 'lid' provided, shake the letters (which are like dices with letters instead of numbers) about in order to mix them up. Then take the lid off, set the egg timer and try and find as many words as possible in the allocated time. The person who finds the most words (they have to be real words) wins!

~ * Rules * ~

The letters can be straight across, downwards or neighbouring.

Words must be three letters or more.

According to the rules, if another team member has the same word as another member it cannot be counted for. However, when playing I never play to this rule.

I think that this game is great. It is very educational for children as it can help improve their vocabulary and help them learn new words and improve their spelling. It is a fun way to learn words. I find this game to be exciting as you have to race against the clock and so I find that I do get quite competitive at times.

I like the fact that the game is very simple and straightforward and doesn't take too much 'fuss'. It's just a simple game which is very easy to set up - it only takes a few seconds to 'prepare' and then you're ready to go, unlike games which 'faff about' like Monopoly.

Another advantage of this game is that it is the kind of game which doesn't require a lot of players. You can also play it on your own (although minus the competition, obviously) and is a great way to get rid of boredom. As a child, I found that there was nothing worse than a game where you needed more than 2 players (especially when you couldn't find enough players). So this is great.

As for the rules, they are easy to follow and it doesn't really matter if you don't stick to them. I remember when I was younger, I just used to liked 'finding as many words as possible' in the 3 minutes allocated on the egg timer.

I like that each game is different as you end up with different letters each time - this can be extremely difficult if there are hardly no vowels present.

I would say that this game is suitable for players aged 7+ although it is a game that the whole family can play together. Also, one game only takes 3 minutes which means that you always have time for a game of Boggle. Due to it not having many 'pieces' (the letters are kept safe in the 'palette' with the lid and only an egg timer), the game is very easy to 'transport around'. Although you do need to have a flat service to put the 'palette' on so that the letters don't fall out.

I would definitely recommend this game!

Thanks for reading!May 2012Xdonzx / xd-o-n-z-x

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

See review

==Overview==

Boggle is another board game from Hasbro. The pieces are well made, the box is sturdy and overall the game is good value for money as it lasts for years. I've had mine over 20 years and it still looks brand new. Granted, I don't play it all that much, but still it is doing well for 20 years old!

==How to play==

In Boggle, you get 16 dice with different letters on each dice. There is a board/tray for the dice which has cover on the top, much like a cake cover. You cover the tray, shake the dice and they fall into the slots. There is a timer, I think you get a minute or minute and a half to make up as many words as you can. The twist is, that you can't just pick any random letter, the letters have to be next to each other, whether that is opposite, adjacent, diagonal etc. that's fine, but they have to be touching in some way. It can make the game quite difficult.

One of the main reasons I like it is that it is really compact and doesn't involve any fiddly pieces. It is easy to take on holiday and regularly goes camping with us and is packed in the "travel games" bag. It isn't as small as a traditional travel game but compared to most board games, it is small. The "board"/"tray" is about 12cm x 12cm so as you can see, quite small.

I also like it as it makes you think about the words you can make and it can be quite hard to get long words due to the rule that the letters have to be next to each other. I like a bit of a challenge when it comes to board games.

==Who might like it?==

Anyone who likes Scrabble would probably love this game, it is similar but different at the same time. I do like the fact that there is a timer as it encourages people to hurry up and think (I think Scrabble could benefit from a timer in my humble opinion!).

==Overall==This is a good game for the family, I think 8-12 years olds would like this best and it might help them to develop their literacy skills. Good game for everyone though, I still like it and I'm nearly 30!

Edit to add: Azana the guide for Toys pointed out that "a consumer review about a 20 year old product can never be as helpful as it could be - quality of the game may have substantially changed - most games have". I do know that the game itself hasn't changed, nor have the rules. I can't comment about current quality of the game if you went out and bought it today but in terms of fun, I'm certain that won't have changed.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Quick, vocabulary based game.

I have always had a soft spot for word games. I have loved playing Scrabble ever since I was a child and I also enjoy crosswords and any letter puzzles. I am not sure where I first came across Boggle, made by Hasbro, but a several years ago I added it to my Christmas list when I realised that it was a game I would probably enjoy.

The game is presented in a nice solid box which is reasonably compact at 20cm x27cmx6cm so it is easy and convenient to store. The box is blue with a bright orange and white design of tumbling letters which in my opinion is quite eye-catching.

===Contents===

Upon opening the box there is an orange plastic tray with a circular base which is about 12cm in diameter. The tray houses a 4x4 grid. There is a clear plastic dome which fits over the tray. The box also contains 16 letter dice which have a letter clearly stamped on each side in blue.

The box also contains a sand-timer which counts three minutes.

The box does not contain paper or pencils which I thought was a bit odd considering they are an absolute necessity to play this game. I know that most people usually have such things knocking around the house but it is nice if they are all conveniently stored inside and are ready to play on opening.

===How to Play===

The 16 dice are put on the tray, they are covered by the lid and then the whole unit is turned upside down and shaken before righting and then jiggling until each die falls into a square on the grid. The cover is then removed and the timer turned-over and each player has 3 minutes to write down as many words as they are able that can be formed using the letters in the tray. The words are formed by linking adjacent letters either horizontally, vertically or diagonally and each letter dice can only be used once.

When the timer runs out players take it in turns to read out their lists and the only words that score any points are ones that none of the others players have found. Words are then scored on length, 3 or 4 letters score 1, and this increases until words of 8 letters or above score 11 points.

===Thoughts on the Game===

As I previously stated I love word games but unfortunately this isn't a love shared by most of my family. My mother enjoys them too and will happily play Boggle with me but otherwise I struggle to find another player. My son is a good sport and sometimes he will agree to a game but I can tell he finds it boring and unfortunately since I always win he is never keen for a rematch. Although my husband will play Scrabble he draws the line at Boggle as he just finds it too "wordy". I do have a friend who I have found out recently likes playing word games so I am hoping to have some more challenging matches with her soon.

The game says that it is recommended for children aged 8 to adult. I think some children will play this but I am sure most would find it a bit dry and since all of the letters are block capitals it takes a while for them to become attuned to spotting the words as they seem more used to spotting words in lower case. It is a game that really needs to be played against a challenger who has a similar command of English to you. As an adult you will invariably beat a child unless you are cheating to let them win and my children always hated winning if they thought that I wasn't trying. I never used the rule about cancelling out words if all players had them and just let the children score all of their words as they were happier to lose if they had scored 15 and I had scored 20 rather than them not scoring anything at all (I was always able to lower my score without them noticing!)

Due to the fact that I do word searches and crosswords a lot I think I just find it easier to spot the words and groups of letters than anyone else in my family so therefore I find more words even though I wouldn't say my vocabulary was that much better than theirs.

When setting the game up the clear lid does fit securely on to the tray so even though my children have shaken it quite vigorously in the past it has stayed on although it is quite cumbersome to hold whilst shaking as the domed lid makes it quite deep. The letters fall in random directions so I always found it beneficial for my children if I quickly turned them so that they were all facing the right way so that they could see them more easily.

The W, M and Z have underscores so that they will not be confused with other letters. The Q is already printed with a U so that you can immediately start making words which shouldn't be possible if it didn't happen to land by a U. The selection of letters on each cube seems quite random but I presume they have probably been calculated using letter frequency in words. A few have all consonants whilst others have mainly vowels whilst the majority seem to have a mixture. We have never had any problem making a good selection of words with the letters that have appeared.

This game is also suitable for playing solo. You simply challenge yourself to make the more words than on your previous turn. I have tried this a few times but I have decided that I prefer playing it on the computer against an imaginary opponent than playing it by myself as sometimes 12 words will be good and other times 30 words would be mediocre simply depending upon the letters that have appeared. This is also not a quiet game, it really rather noisy when you shake the letters.

Although I really enjoy this game I could only recommend it if you know you have people who would like to play it with you. My game hardly ever comes out of the cupboard and I now tend to rely on playing on versions on the internet if I fancy a game. The concept is simple and the pieces are well-made and seem durable although mines has not had enough play to really evaluate how much it would stand up to regular wear and tear. I was hoping my children would enjoy it more when they were a bit younger as I think word-games are educational but unfortunately neither of them has ever been particularly impressed with it. I do think the lack of pens and paper is a bit mean and could easily have been incorporated. Overall I think that the idea for this game is great but I can understand why many people would find it boring as there are no exciting twists to the gameplay at all.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Great word game to play as a family

This was bought years ago as a present for my gran who loved doing crosswords and playing word games such as Scrabble with us when we were kids. Somewhere along the line the Boggle game found it's way into my mums attic to be rediscovered by my 11 year old nephew earlier this month.

The game consists of 16 dice which have a letter on each side and a plastic tray divided into a 4 x 4 grid with a lid so you can shake the dice without losing them. The dice land within the grid with one letter showing on the top side of each dice and the object of the game is to make as many words aspossible before the 3 minute sand timer runs out. The letter Q is represented by Qu on the dice thankfully or it would hardly ever get used unless you were lucky enough to get a U next to it.

In the proper version of Boggle you should make words from letters that are adjacent to each othervertically,horizontally or diagonally and each letter can only be used once in a word. Each player writes down their words and when the timer stops each player goes through their words and anyword that another player has is discounted before scoring.

The scores are then calculated by number of letters in the wordsThe Qu tile still counts as 2 letters even though it's only one tile.

As we usually always had kids playing the game we always played a simplified version of the gamedepending on the age of the kids playing as the real game gets a bit frustrating for the kids and probably some adults too if we're honest.

If the kids playing are the younger ones we just let them make up words from the tiles availablewithout the need for the tiles to be connecting but to even things up the adults and teenagers words have to be connecting as they would be in the proper game rules this means that the kids have a fair chance of beating the adults and frequently do. When it comes to scoring we don't discount the words others have and any real word gets scoredby the points system detailed above.

One of the great things about this game is any number of people can play at once or you can play alone and try to beat your own score. The game is ready to play in seconds (or minutes if like us you've got noisy kids who like shaking it for 5 minutes) just shake the dice turn over the timer and it's ready to go there's no batteries required or complicated set up all you need are pens and paper and the game itself.

The games are short and fast the timer only last 3 minutes so it's a frantic scribble to find and write down the words and there's added entertainment value from the silly made up words and squabbles over whether the word exists. I think this is a great game for kids as they are building up their vocabulary and improving their spelling without realising it because they are having fun at the same time and the chance of making the adults look stupid by winning adds to their enjoyment. Get the kids to count up the scores and they're also improving their maths as well although our lot do have a tendency to add a few points here and there to their score and subtract a few from any unsuspecting adult. I'm dyslexic and found games like Boggle and Scrabble seemed to help me when I was a kidwhich is probably the reason we played games like this so often when I was younger.

We've played this several times over the holidays and it was good to get together for a change and play a game everyone could join in rather than just relying on the Playstation or Wii for entertainment as we usually do.

The Boggle game costs £12.99 and is suitable for age 8 upwards.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Like Scrabble? Then you'll love this.

I am the queen of Boggle. Not much of a claim to fame, admittedly, but everyone's got to be bizarrely good at something and my special talent is for finding words on dice. So much so, in fact, that my idea of a really cracking night in is a nice dinner, a few episodes of Jersey Shore to gaze at in appalled fascination and many rounds of this word finding game. I have been known to make my long suffering boyfriend play for _hours_ at a time and no doubt I'll whip this board game out before the turkey's cooked on Christmas day.

So what is it about Boggle? Well, I love pretty much all word-based games but Boggle holds a particular appeal due to how fast-paced and competitive it is. And the fact that I win about 99% of the time also plays a part, I suppose.

The game is played using lettered dice that fit onto a 4x4 grid. A clear plastic dome fixes on top of the grid, you shake the game to shuffle the letters around, settle the dice back into the grid and then turn the timer over to start 3 minutes of word spotting. Pretty simple and straightforward, but then the best games always are. As each player finds a word they write it down on a piece of paper kept hidden from the other player. When the time is up players read their list of words, discounting any that other players have also found. Words that seem dubious can be checked in an agreed dictionary. After that words are scored according to how many letters they have, with 3 and 4 letter words scoring 1 point, 5 letters scoring 2 points and so on. When I play, though, we score words corresponding to number of letters, so a three letter word scores three points. Doesn't make any difference to who wins and loses but it does make the overall scores sound pleasingly impressive.

We have played variations where I allow the other player a head start and see if I can catch them before the timer's up or you can choose to only allow three letter words or words that are 4 or more letters. Mostly, though, we just play the game in the usual way and anyone with a decent vocabulary will find it surprisingly addictive. However, anyone with dyslexia, word-finding difficulties or visual memory problems is likely to find it a form of torture.

Some of the 'updated' Boggle sets offer added extras such as a 5x5 grid or a version which involves players making the words with their bodies on a lettered mat. The newer version also has a playing board that doesn't need to be shaken: the dome is spring-loaded and you press it down to shuffle the letters. Personally, I think one of the best bits is the loud rattling noise you make with the dice, so I'll be sticking to my old-school edition (although if Santa brought me the edition with the 5x5 grid, I'd be a very happy girl).

This is also one of my games that I take into work and use it to help consolidate and extend children's knowledge of CVC words. For this I don't use the timer unless the children are particularly capable and we tend to play just for three letter words and progress to 4 letter words as the children extend their vocabulary and spelling ability. With this in mind I'd say that the manufacturer's guide of suitable for ages 8 and up is about right, although particularly literate younger children are likely to enjoy it. The game is perfect for taking to work or on trips as the timer and dice can be packed inside the grid with the domed lid keeping everything in place. Just to make sure it doesn't come apart in my bag I put a bit of sellotape or a couple of elastic bands around it.

The version I have is available on Amazon for the frankly outrageous price of £34.99, but can be found for under a tenner on the marketplace or at car boot sales. I bought my set for a fiver from eBay and despite being much used by me and the person I bought it from, it still looks in very good condition. Short of one of the cats eating the dice (which is not something I'd necessarily rule out, given how thick Jellybean is) I would expect this game to last for many years to come.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A fun game that will be appreciated by those much older than the 8 years it is aimed at.

I have always loved crossword and word games so was pleased when I was given this for my birthday a few years ago. Scrabble may be classed as a more educational game but I prefer Boggle as it is possible to set up quickly and there is a fairly rapid countdown before each level ends.

There are 16 dice like cubes but they have letters on the sides rather than numbers and the idea is to make as many words as possible in a short period of time. After the tray has been shaken it sets the letters out in rows of 4 x 4 cubes and words have to be made up of letters that are touching each other. You do have to concentrate because when you first look at the letters, words jump out at you but if the letters that make them up don't touch each other the word is not valid.

I normally find that 3 minutes is long enough as the obvious ones will be found quickly and the idea is to look for the unusual words and write them down. Once the scoring starts any word that is found by more than one player is eliminated and points given just for the unique ones. It took me a while to get used to this as I tried to write down all the words when it was obvious other people would get them as well.

So far the dice have not been lost but I am not sure what would happen if we did lose one as they are not the sort you would find in the local games shop. I have not gone as far as to look for a local Boggle club and get involved in tournaments but it is a good game when there is a spare hour. You should be able to play 10 rounds in that time so there is plenty of chances to win a few rounds and be the overall winner. The longer the unique word the more point allocated so I now try and find one or two long words rather than a few shorter ones. Not that I am competitive at all!!

It is a good way to help children learn how to spell and for a while my nephew played and he did seem to learn new words, as if anyone got one he did not know he would ask what it meant.

When you consider the sort of games children like now it seems very basic so will not be suitable for those who like state of the art toys but as a little extra is will be a good way to stretch their vocabulary - plus there is no reason why you should not improve your own.

The game is produced by Hasbro and is recommended for 8 year olds and older. I believe that it cost £8.99 5 years ago.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

See review

Boggle is yet another variation of a word game. This time it is quite a different set up to any other word game but just as much fun to play.

You have a small board with 16 square compartments in it making a four by four pattern. You then have 16 dice like pieces but instead of dots or numbers on them you have letters on all sides. Then you have a lid that goes on top. The lid is quite high so that once you put the letter cubes inside the base you can hold the lid on and give it a good shake up.

The idea is to make up words using the letters that are face up in the container. If when you have shaken them some are not quite in the holes you need to do a bit of wiggling about so that they all lay down flat.

To make up a word you start at one letter then have to use a letter that is next to this one (can be left, right, up, down or in any diagonal direction) and so on. The words have to be at least three letters long but you can use as many letters as you want as long as you don't use the same cube face more than once per word.

Everyone needs to write down as many words as they can find while the egg timer that comes with the game is going. Once the time has run out you need to stop writing. Then you go around the table and the first person reads out their list of words. If any one else has the same word then it is crossed out on everyone's list. You do this with everybody who is playing until all you each have left is a list of unique words to that player. Then you score each word that is left, for a three or four letter word you get 1 point per word, five letters gives you 2 points, six you get three pints, seven you get five points and eight or over you get 11 points. Then you add up all your points and someone keeps a score sheet showing how many points you each have.

You can keep playing for as long as you like but it is best to have a set limit like may be play for an hour and then highest score wins or may be have first to reach 200 points is the winner.

It is also a good idea to have a dictionary handy as then if someone says a word isn't right you can look it up and see if its spelled correctly or not.

The game is very easy to play and once you get started it is a very satisfactory game to play. I love trying to make up words using the diagonal directions as well as the other ways. Sometimes you can be sitting there thinking you can't find anything then all of a sudden a big word with come into your head and you just hope no one else has the same word.

I found that this game is better played with more grown up children as the younger ones do find it hard to follow the letters to make the words but its not a bad idea to let them have a play about and see if they can do it or not. You can keep one amused on their own by giving them the boggle and getting them to shake it up and then write down as many words as they can and then you checking them, bit like a spelling test at school.

The game is very robust and made to last as long as you don't lose one of the cubes as then you wouldn't be able to play any more.

I looked on Amazon and they have some independent sellers selling the game for £4.25 but you would have to pay pp on top of this. On Toys R Us they have a newer version called Boggle Reinvention for £14.99 which from what I can make out is now an enclosed capsule thing that has the cubes inside and you just shake it up the same but you can't take the cubes out which would stop you losing them. (Amazon have it for £11.99 with free delivery!)

Copied to Ciao under username Harveydog52

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Mind-Bogglingly Good Fun

Boggle is a really interesting word game, much like the quiz in the Sun newspaper, it provides you with 16 letters and asks you to make as many words as you can with those letters within a set time period.

The letters are based on cubes and at the start of each turn, one player shakes the boggle cube containing the 16 dice cubes, when they finally land in their squares you start choosing words based on the letters which are available. You have to make as many words as you can within the time it takes for the sand timer to run down.

All you need for the game is a pen and pad for each player and somebody who can judge that people aren't cheating. Although I would also recommend a dictionary for when disputes develop and that the 'somebody' is a person who is entirely impartial and doesn't have any vested interest.

The game is great fun for all the family, but can also be played alone and is excellent for people planning to expand their vocabulary. I've had it since my 9th birthday and we still play it now, it can be bought on Amazon used for £3.50 which is great value as the game is different every time you play it, its fun, challenging and really tests your vocabulary and ability to find words quickly.

It can be played by a number of people, the instructions are easy to follow and it is satisfying and a great thing to play with the kids, i'd definitely recommend this simple but addictive game to everybody. With 16 letters it offers a challenge to get as many words as you can and can create serious competitiveness amongst normally placid friends and family members.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Fun, challenging and simple

Released in 1972 Boggle is an incredibly simple game that has made it to the puzzle pages of many national newspapers.

What you need

Basically, Boggle is a word game for up to 7 people, the box recommends that players are 8 years or over as a necessity of the game is having a good knowledge of words. Boggle is a 16 space board with dices within, you have a cover for the board, shake it and then make sure that a letter faces up from each position. All players then have 3 minutes to make words from letters next to each other, words must have at least 3 letters and points are gained for the size of the word and whether it has only been used by you.

For the game you need a pen and paper, the board and the dice and the timer and you have a game right there.

Price

Available for a tenner on Amazon, I bought my box for 7.99GBP in Woolworths many years ago, it has served me well and is small enough to easily fit in a bag for long train or coach journeys, its a good game as it allows lots of people to play and it also stretches your brain a little bit which I find enjoyable.

The concept of the game is incredibly simple, there are various rules for Boggle in different countries, but I like to keep it simple and just find as many words as I can within 3 minutes. When I was younger I would play alone to improve my word skills and I think it worked. The game is easy to play, cheap and fun for all of the family. Its well worth a purchase and while its not in the premier league of board games it is definitely worth a 4 out of 5.